


Surviving With You

by AnimeLovrsInTown



Category: Girl Meets World
Genre: Character Development, F/M, Overprotective Men, Stranded on an Island, Surviving, Teen Pregnancy, Underage Sex, clingy couples, co-dependancy, losing hope, lost at sea, lovestruck women, shipwrecked, traditional gender roles
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-16
Updated: 2018-10-02
Packaged: 2019-05-07 20:40:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 9
Words: 14,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14679098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnimeLovrsInTown/pseuds/AnimeLovrsInTown
Summary: “Nature!”“Oh can it Cory.”“People, people, settle down-”“Riley, there is no way you can stay positive right now!”“Oh yeah? Watch me.”“Can we please stop arguing and find a way to get out of here!?”





	1. Calm before the Storm

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, this is my first fanfic for the 'Girl Meets World' Universe, but I've been writing on fanfiction.net before this. I got some feedback that I should post on here too, so I thought I may as well do it with a brand new set of fics. Hope you guys like it :)

_“How did you possibly manage this!?”_

_“Woah, woah there Boing, you’re pinning this on me!?”_

_“Yes! Practically the minute after I say ‘All you have to do is get rid of everyone else and we can be together’ we end up washed up on some deserted island!”_

_“One, it’s been MONTHS, since you said that. And two, I’m not even smart enough to come up with this, so there!”_

_“You were in on this!”_

_“I had nothing to do with this! There is no reception, I’m going out of my mind here!”_

_“Nature!”_

_“Oh can it Cory.”_

_“People, people, settle down-”_

_“Riley, there is no way you can stay positive right now!”_

_“Oh yeah? Watch me.”_

_“Can we please stop arguing and find a way to get out of here!?”_

 

2 weeks earlier

“I won!” Topanga squealed, hugging her son tightly. It was an ordinary weekend, nothing too special. Riley was at the mall with her friends, and Cory was picking up some last minute things from work.

“Of course you did mommy, what did you win this time?” Auggie questioned, escaping the suffocating embrace. He flung her arms to the side and dusted himself off, grimacing while massaging his aching face. People were fiends when it came to his cheeks.

“Remember the cruise I applied for? It says I won! I can take up to 12 people with me, wow this is so exciting!” She celebrated, she couldn't wait to share the good news with Cory. “It just says there needs to be at least 4 adults... including a person who knows how to operate the boat.” ‘Huh’ she thought, eyeing the last part funnily. The foreboding feeling quickly rolled off her shoulders, she needed this break way too much, work was getting crazier by the day.

“CAN AVA COME?? Pleeeeeease mommy.” Topanga grimaced but anticipated this.

“Only if _her_ mommy says yes sweetie.” She caved at the hopeful expression on her little boy’s face.

“YAAAAYYYYYY!!” Auggie squealed, running off to tell his wife for 51 years, the good news. Topanga rolled her eyes.

“Hmm… four adults… I better ask Cory who he thinks we should… of course… Shawn and Katy.” Topanga grinned, almost face-palming herself. 'At least that's settled.' she hummed to herself, putting the letter down on the counter and opening up the other mail.

...

“SHAWN!” Cory rejoiced as soon as he heard the news. “I can’t wait to tell him we finally got ourselves that honeymoon we always wanted.” He said dreamily.

“With your _wives_.” Topanga stressed, crossing her arms. It amused and irked her in equal parts when Cory got like this. 'Best friends.' she tsk'd.

“Yeah, yeah, you too.” Cory said flippantly, before ringing his buddy. Topanga simply rolled her eyes before waiting for Riley and Maya to get home.

“2 weeks!? That’s amazing mum congratulations!” Riley beamed, squeezing her mother in delight when she was told.

“Yeah congrats! Can’t wait to see what it’s like on a ship.” Maya piped in, grinning wide.

“Oh? And who invited you Maya?” Topanga acted surprised, but couldn’t keep the grin off her face.

“Where she goes, I go... get with the program lady.” Maya scoffed, before sauntering to the kitchen and opening the fridge, to hunt down some pre-dinner snacks.

“Yes Maya you’re invited… in fact, your parents are coming as well.” Topanga shared, grinning when Maya couldn’t keep the smile off her face from not only the news, but also the referral to her parent _S_.

“Aww... boo adults.” Even she knew she didn’t sound convincing. “How many people are coming then?”

“Well so far with Cory, Riley, Auggie and I, plus you, Shawn and Katy, oh and -uck-Ava… there are four spots remaining.” Topanga counted off, pursing her lips in concentration.

“Can we ask our friends mum, pleeeeease?” Riley begged, pouting hard. 'God, my kids are twins afterall.'

“Alright, alright. Get their parents to agree and I’ll add Lucas, Zay, Farkle, and Smackle on the list.” Topanga smiled indulgently, that being her plan all along. She’d have to work on Cory getting over Lucas spending two weeks with their daughter but, they weren’t alone so she didn’t think she’d have any trouble convincing him. Plus it was her.

“Actually, Zay’s gone back home for Christmas, Lucas stayed because he wanted to spend his first round of holidays with his giiiirlfriiiend.” Maya made kissy faces at Riley, who couldn’t even tell her to stop, too busy giggling and getting giddy at the thought of him.

“Well I guess that opens up a spot… I wonder if Josh-"

“I LOVE YOU.” Maya blurted out, mid-bite. “Seriously, you’re my favourite.” Maya blinked out of the mini-stupor and continued scarfing down food, trying to get her shit sorted.

“I guess I better ask then.” Topanga just laughed as a dopey smiling Maya bounded over and clung onto her. “Well ladies, it looks like we have our crew.”

After finding out Shawn knew how to man a boat, and Josh’s ability to help him through boy scout training -making Maya war with either laughing at him or swooning cause it’s Uncle boing-, along with all the necessary approval and paper work done within the fortnight; they were all packed and arrived at the docks.

“Wow, it’s so great here, and it’s a yacht! We’re on a private yacht for two weeks with amazing food and friends and family and a whole bunch of awesome.” Riley rejoiced, spinning around on the deck of the boat.

“I gotta admit Riles, this is pretty sweet.” Maya grinned back, stretching her arms and soaking in the sunlight.

“I’m so glad you guys could come!” Riley then proceeded to hug all her friends, adding a soft kiss on Lucas’ cheek, just for him.

Lucas smiled sweetly down at a slightly shorter Riley, who was in flats, squeezing her fingers. “Yeah, I’m glad I chose to stay. Zay flipped when he heard, wanted to come right back, but his family wouldn’t let him.” Lucas grinned lopsidedly at that, before looking at the others. “But hey, I’m sure there’ll be a bunch of other times like this, right gang?”

“Ranger Rick’s got the right idea. I myself, however, am going to use this god gifted time to hash out the _long game_ with Uncle Boing~.” And with that she flitted off to find her boy scout.

“Weren’t her and Zay-?” Smackle questioned, looking unsurely at the others.

“Maya and Zay aren’t exclusive... they aren’t really dating, and Maya’s always liked Josh, I’m guessing Zay saw this coming when he heard?” Farkle questioned, looking at Lucas.

The cowboy sighed. “Yeah, seems like it. Another reason he really wanted to come… The world works in funny ways.” He muttered the last part.

“Hey guys, why don’t we unpack and meet back out here?” Riley smiled, playing with Lucas and her entwined fingers.

“Yeah, enjoy your last moments with technology, cause it’s all gone as soon as we set sail.” Farkle bemoaned, melodramatically.

“There, there dearest one, you are not alone in your plight. I too suffer your strife.” Smackle comforted, gently patting her boyfriend’s back.

“Thank you Isadora.” Farkle smiled, wrapping an arm around her, and with that they all dispersed, going to getting settled in. The girls were sharing, so were the boys, and the parents each had a room for each respective couple.

…

“Hey there Boing. You contemplating life?” Maya smiled, nudging said boing with her shoulder.

“No… just thinking about how I’m on a boat with my someday for two weeks, wondering what’s going to happen.” Josh smiled, indulgently, nudging back.

“Yeah? I make you nervous?” the blonde smiles cheekily.

“No… just different… a nice different. Do I make _you_ nervous?” He asked softly, leaning towards her. Maya's eyes widened slightly as she froze, their faces just inches away.

“Ha, I bet my heart’s beating so loud you already know the answer to that... and it’s yes. A very big yes. I swoon on sight remember?” Maya rambled, squeezing his fingers gently, to ground her.

“Heh, yeah I guess.” Josh chuckled, ducking his head before eyeing her once more.

“I’m glad you’re with us right now.” Maya mumbled.

“Yeah? I’m glad I came too.” Josh smiled softly, as they stared at the sparkling water, just enjoying each other’s presence.

…

“Look at our baby girl… so grown up…” Katy cooed, snuggling into Shawn’s embrace.

“Hey now, she’s still 15, turning 16 sure, but she has a long way to go before adulthood.” Shawn muttered, but still he was glad she was growing up with a guy he knew and trusted. He was getting a lot better at this protective father thing. ‘I might be one of the only fathers in the world that actually _wants_ their daughter to be with her chosen guy. I practically raised him after all.’

“Mmm, too bad any scolding you give her for this, she’ll fight back with how you were when you were younger.” Katy smirked up at him.

“Yeah… but I know she’ll listen to me anyway… cause she’s my daughter…” Shawn smiled contently, feeling happy with where life had taken them all.

…

“You’re sure he can be trusted?” Cory questioned, pacing.

“Cory calm down. She’s with these kids every day, and so far nothing has gone monumentally wrong. That triangle nonsense was a quick fix.” Topanga comforted, laying a hand on her husband’s back.

“Yeah, I just need to chill… and keep a very close watch on them.” Cory muttered the last part to himself. Soon after he called everyone on board to gather around.

“Rules on the boat-” Maya’s groan was like thunder, causing her friends to laugh, and even Josh and her parents cracked a smile. “Oh too bad on you.” Cory grinned, before continuing. “No boys in girl’s room, no girls in boy’s room. Anyone defying these rules will walk the plank!” He declared, supremely.

“Get off your high horse Matthews.” Maya hollered, causing her mom to scold her.

“Fine. They will be in time out and on cleaning duty!” He pouted, still, however, satisfied with his threat.

“Also kids, stay together, we’ll be getting you all for lunch soon.” Topanga continued.

Once the adults had walked off to wherever adults go, Riley spun around to face her friends. “Let’s all play a game!” she proclaimed.

“That’s a great idea Riley, I found a bunch of board games in one of the rooms. There’s monopoly, sky fall, Cluedo, Family Fued. What do you guys wanna play?” Farkle asked, pulling out said options.

“I say Family Fued, that’s always fun!” Riley beamed, grabbing the chosen board. Once everyone sounded their agreement, they proceeded to kill time, just hanging out. The sky was blue, the weather was a mix of bright sun and cool wind, everyone was having a great time together. To the group, it was shaping up to be an amazing vacation.


	2. Prepare Yourself

5 days in and everything was going well. Everyone was having a good time just talking, swimming in the pool, playing board games, and just overall enjoying each other’s company. That’s what made Josh nervous. They were on the ocean. But the weather was beautiful, all the time. He smelt a storm a brewing and hoped to god he was wrong.

“Guys we may have a problem.” Farkle and Smackle had gathered everyone in a group on deck, aside from Shawn.

“Farkle and I believe that there has been a change in the wide current, and decrease in wind intervals.” Smackle continued.

“Basically we think we should brace ourselves for bad weather.” Farkle explained.

Riley laughed lightly. “Are you kidding guys? The weather is beautiful! It has been for days!” Riley disagreed, looking at the others to back her up.

“Riles is right, I think you guys are freaking out.” Maya concurred, fist bumping her bestie.

“Aww thanks peaches.” Maya winked at her.

“Actually, I think they’re right, we should prepare, even if it’s just a precaution.” Josh disagreed with the girls. Sometimes, he really hated being right.

“I completely agree.” Maya nodded with a smile, causing Riley’s jaw to drop and for the others to chuckle.

“Thanks for a whole buncha nothin!” Riley gawked, offended. Lucas chuckled softly, tucking a hair behind her ear, causing the teen to brighten instantly.

“You’re both hopeless.” Auggie groaned.

“Yeah they’re just pathetic. Come on Auggie, let’s go play!” Ava proceeded to spin on her heel and jog back to her room. This was clearly not her problem.

“Yes love.” Auggie nodded seriously, following like a puppy, making Maya and Riley just smirk after him.

“So what do we do captain?” Topanga smiled wryly at her brother in law.

“I’ll do anything you want.” Maya said, shamelessly, causing the rest of the group to roll their eyes at her. Josh just smiled, bashfully. Katy dragged her daughter back with a soft ‘oh no you won’t’ and patted her arm.

“Well sis, we gotta zip up all the food in the waterproof bags, and all other important items such as medicine, hygenic items, non-perishable foods, emergency supplies… then we have to secure them thoroughly to the boat, to ensure they do not move short of the boat getting completely wrecked.” He said the end part brightly, hoping for people to not think of that as a serious possibility. At the scared looks on the everyone’s faces, he knew he did not succeed. “Juuuuust a _precaution_.”

“Anything else?” Lucas questioned, quickly getting over his unease.

“Yeah, pack those bag packs with tiny emergency supplies like toothbrush, toothpaste, soap bar, bottle of water, packet of dried jerky, chocolate bar annnnnd maybe a hairbrush or whatever one thing you cannot lose. Just nothing that can get wet or that’s sharp or pointy. Then wear it on top of a swim suit, and strap on a pair of goggles when the rain starts.” Everyone looked at him slack jawed.

“He was a boyscout.” Maya giggled, fluttering her eyelashes from her position in Katy’s arms. “What would we do without you?” She sighed dreamily.

“Maybe some people would hold on to their dignity.” Riley pointed out, not so subtly.

“Hey sunshine, you’re worse than I am.” Maya bit back, narrowing her eyes.

“I am.” Riley agreed with a dopey smile, looking up at Lucas, enamored. The boy blushed and smiled sweetly at her, causing Riley to practically melt to the floor.

“Oookay, _that_ ’s sickening.” Cory grabbed Riley by her shoulders and steered her to their rooms to do as instructed, a highly amused Topanga following them.

“Bye Josh.” Maya said shyly as her own mum dragged her away.

“Bye Maya.” Josh called after her, smirking lightly.

“So, uncle dream boat-” Josh quirked a brow, never hearing that before.

“Smackle!” Farkle was close upon giving up whining about his man-eater of a girlfriend.

“-do we all meet up here after we’re done?” Smackle questioned.

“Yeah, we’ll have to. Hopefully this storm starts late and ends quickly.” Josh muttered.

“Mmm not too late, if everyone’s sleepy, we’re all as good as gone.” Farkle said ominously.

 

*~*

 

“We have to jump ship!” Farkle hollered. “It’s too strong! If the ship goes down with us in it, we’ll be trapped with no way out!” The others barely heard him over the howling wind, but agreed to the gist. The rain spat painfully at their skin due to the force of the gale; water had already flooded twenty percent of the cabin.

“I can’t find Maya!” Riley came out of the hull, screaming. Tears hidden by the rain, streamed down her face as she waded up the stairs.

“Rillleeeeeeeey!!” Maya screamed from her left as the boat swayed violently, causing the others to fall. They all watched in horror as Maya was tossed into the ocean.

“MAYYYAAAA!!” they screamed in unison. Riley tried desperately to scramble to her feet, attempting to fight the wind that kept them pinned down, and the wet surface that just slid her back down on her knees.

Josh found his feet rapidly, fighting with everything he had, to be able to reach his girl, before the tides pushed the fiery blonde too far from the group. In the split second that he spotted her, her vaulted his body against the wind, towards her. Shawn fought against every instinct to follow, pinning a hysterical Katy to him, not allowing the women he loved to follow the same fate as her child; he had to trust in Josh.

Lucas followed Josh close behind, but spotted Riley running to catch up, in the corner of his eye. Grabbing the side ropes in a burning grip, he took hold of his girlfriend, sending them both to the floor.

“Let go of me! What are you doing! MAYA NEEDS ME!!” Riley thrashed in his grip, tears pouring down her face as she fought against him with everything she had.

“Riley, NO! You’ll get lost out there!” Lucas screamed back, not giving an inch. “I’m not letting you go!” They both jerked as the boat swayed a bit too violently.

“GUYS! WE _HAVE_ TO JUMP SHIP!” Farkle screamed, praying everyone heard him. With that, he, Smackle and the adults, holding tight to the little ones, jumped ship. Lucas pulled Riley up swiftly and jumped as well.

…

“Maya! Hold on, I got you!” Josh called out over the rolling waves and thunder booming in the sky. Maya took a huge breath, trying to keep focus on Josh. Another wave dragged her under, but he wouldn’t let her go, just getting dragged deeper alongside her sinking form.

“Josh help me!” Maya screamed as they surfaced, only to get hit by another turbulent wave. Josh finally managed to pull her to him and release their bag’s safety jackets’ hook lines. Maya clung onto his shirt as they drifted further and further from the capsized boat, Josh tying them together. Shivering from the icy soak of their skin, they burrowed deep in each other's embrace, not allowing the beating elements to separate them even an inch. They fought to stay alert as the storm raged, but eventually exhaustion claimed them and their fight gave way. Slumping, the couple could no longer stop themselves from going under.


	3. A Crash Landing

Maya’s eyes cracked open, fluttering slowly as the sun bore down, swelteringly. Gaining her bearings, she felt the body beneath her start to move. She jolted and sprung back, only to tug Josh with her, the rope connecting both their bodies. Josh groaned as Maya’s head spun with her quick movements. The male seemed to get himself together too, opening his eyes and taking in their surroundings. They lay on the sandy shores of what appeared to be an island.

“Josh?” Maya croaked out, everything from last night hitting her at once.

“Yeah… we’re alive.” Josh pulled her into his arms as she shook, both in relief and fear.

While they were knocked around in the sea, Josh had tied them to each other with the safety rope, Maya clinging to him desperately so they wouldn’t get separated. When he finished, they both shut their eyes, Maya’s arms around his neck, head buried in them, legs tightly around his torso. Josh held her securely around her waist, legs bent under her as they floated along with the violent tides.

“Josh… the others… what happened to the others!?” Maya gasped, shoving away from him and looking around erratically, heart pounding. She tried to stand, but the rope kept her grounded to him.

“Hey. Hey! Look at me.” He gripped her face in his hands. “They’re alive. And we’re going to find them.” Josh told her, staring right into her eyes. Maya felt the tears that had weld up in her eyes start to fade away.

“Yeah. Yeah we will. Thank you, Josh.” With that they both stood and began walking along the shore.

~*~

“Oh my head.” Riley groaned, dragging herself up from the sand only to fall with an oomph on top of another body.

“Ouch, Riley!” Lucas whines, waking up. Their heads pounded and they sat up together slowly.

“Riley? Lucas! RILEY! LUCAS!!” both snapped their heads towards the screaming voices. Face splitting smiles spread across their cheeks as they watched Cory, Topanga, Auggie, Ava, Katy and Shawn run towards them, all tied together with the safety rope. They collided, thanking their lucky stars they all survived and found each other.

“Have you seen Maya!? Oh my poor baby.” Katy wept, she had been inconsolable since time they awoke.

“No ma’am, we just woke up.” Lucas said, sadly, hanging his head at the possibilities.

Riley’s lower lip trembled, but she squared her shoulders. “Josh found Maya. I know he did. If anyone had the best chance of surviving, it’s them.” And with that she dusted herself off before spinning around and walking away from where the other group came from, tugging Lucas along with her. “And we’re going to find them!”

~*~

“I can’t believe we found the boat.” Smackle gawked at the broken sea-vehicle.

“Yeah… it washed up on these shores just like us… and hopefully the rest of them… Smackle I don’t know what I’m gonna do if I never-” Farkle choked on his words as Smackle tackled him in a hug.

“We’ll see them again. They made it Farkle. I know they did.” Smackle said, eyes shining with certainty.

Farkle smiled gratefully at his positive girlfriend. “You’re right. And if I know Riley and Maya, they’ll be walking these shores trying to find us as soon as they wake up.” Farkle said, assuredly.

“That means we just have to sit here and ensure that this boat doesn’t get washed back out to sea.” Smackle said, lips twisting in a frown as she eyed the giant, capsized boat.

“Lucky for us, right now, in the sun and no wind, it’s unlikely for any tides to form that are big enough to drag its weight. You stay here while I start untying the bindings of the waterproof bags.” Farkle smiled, and with a soft kiss to the cheek, he disappeared into one of the broken holes in the ship.

Smackle tried to put out his disappearance from her mind. After the near-death experience, she didn’t think she could take being alone on the island, but steeled herself, hoping that the others would appear soon, or at the very least, Farkle to turn up with the first bag.

3 hours later, Farkle had managed to untie all the bags, and cut some of the tougher ones with some shrapnel he found. With only a few burns and light scrapes, he counted himself lucky. He and Smackle clung to each other, surrounded by the bags, just waiting. Sure enough, 30 minutes later, they heard familiar screams from the distance.

Farkle watched joyously as Maya catapulted into his arms, and he held her tight, squeezing her bruised ribs unintentionally. “God am I glad to see you guys.” Maya wept, Farkle simply held her as Smackle and Josh shared their own brief hug. Finally, Maya dragged herself away, wiping her nose with the sleeve of her body suit.

Before she could say another word, they all heard screams in the distance. Farkle and Smackle jumped up and down waving at the large group. The blonde broke off into a sprint, with Josh scrambling after her. Maya lept into Riley’s arms and both girls collapsed, bringing the boys to their knees. The rest of the group surrounded them, tears and cheer all around. Finally, they all pieced themselves up enough to get to Farkle and Smackle.

~*~

“How did you possibly manage this!?” Josh groaned, sliding his face in his hands. Everyone had calmed down a bit, now that everyone was together, so it was clearly time to play the blame game.

“Woah there Boing, you’re pinning this on me!?” Maya gawfed, crossing her arms and raising an unimpressed brow.

“Oooooh snap.” Riley muttered, sideways, causing the kids to giggle and Lucas to crack a smile.

“Yes! Practically the minute I say ‘All you have to do is get rid of everyone else and we can be together’ we end up washed up on some deserted island!” Josh felt completely justified in himself. This was simply a very elaborate, dangerous plan, concocted by his pretty little _idiot_.

“One, it’s been MONTHS, since you said that. And two, I’m not even smart enough to come up with this, so there!” Maya ‘ha!d’ upturning her nose.

“You were in on this!” Farkle’s eyes widened drastically as Josh turned abruptly and pointed in his face.

“I had nothing to do with this! There is no reception, I’m going out of my mind here!” he squealed, groaning in his hands at the reminder.

“Nature!” Cory hissed, disapprovingly.

“Oh can it Cory.” Topanage glared, she woulda hit him over the head, but they’d gone through enough for the day.

“People, people, settle down-” Riley called, smiling awkwardly.

“Riley, there is no way you can stay positive right now!” Farkle called, exasperated.

“Oh yeah? Watch me.” Riley raised a challenging brow at him, before turning to the others.

“Can we please stop arguing and find a way to fix this!?” Topanga cut off whatever the others were about to say, crossing her arms expectantly. Everyone sat silently and thought about it. It was now late afternoon, and it dawned Shawn, Josh and Farkle that they would have to sort themselves out before dark. Everyone had taken turns going into the ship to change into the dry clothes available in a single waterproof bag, packed by a brilliant Topanga Matthews.

“Okay so we have supplies to last us another 1 week with the nonperishable bag that you gathered you brilliant little geniuses.” Shawn grinned, messing both kids' hair. “What else we got?”

“If I remember the bags correctly…” Josh muttered, thinking. “Clothes, food, medicine (thank god)… and my survival crate!” With that Josh finally untied him and Maya, grabbing Lucas (untying him as well), Cory and Shawn, leaving everyone watching curiously after them.

“If it’s Josh it’s brilliant.” Maya comforted, big grin on her face. Her mum had still not let go of her since they had changed, same as Topanga with Riley and Auggie.

Five minutes later the boys hauled over a big metal crate, almost like a chest. Unlocking it, Josh showed everyone the bag of tools, the tents, magnifying glass, rope, different types of pocket knives, and a tinder box with a few match boxes.

“I’m almost afraid to ask what’s in your emergency bag.” Cory grinned, clapping his brother on the shoulder. “Excellent job my brother. You may have just saved all of our lives.” Everyone rejoiced.

Cory took charge then. “Okay guys, we don’t know what’s in that jungle, but if we stay on the shore, we run the risk of getting washed up by another storm. Long term plan? We have to follow all the clichés and head to the trees. There’s a reason for that setup after all. Being high in the trees keeps us from some predators and from high tide.” He explained, getting everyone’s attention.

“Cory’s right. But for right now, we have go in there as a group, set up the tents in a campsite closed in by big trees, but clear enough to see what we’re dealing with around us.” Shawn nodded.

“Here, these might help.” Josh threw the bag of weapons in the middle of the group.

“We need to figure out roles. Everyone dig deep and think of what you’re good at, that can be useful in this situation.” Cory announced.

“Well, as a little girl, I studied herbs and medicines from my mum, so I believe I can find some natural medicine so we can save what we have for desperate times.” Topanga spoke up. “Oh, I can also cook and sew.” She smiled, motherly perks.

“Oh I can sew too!” Katy grinned happily, feeling useful.

“I know how to build shelters, and know things on survival such as getting water from plants and protecting from predators, I can teach you all?” Josh decided.

“I know how to fish, forage and catch game so I guess if there’s anything in the forest, I’m your guy.” Lucas smiled, bumping fists with Josh and Shawn, who mentioned they could help.

“Isadora and I have been working with the radio and our cell-phones, trying to get them working so we can contact civilisation.” Farkle mentioned, with a nodding Smackle.

"That's a great idea guys. We'll explore other forms of communication after we're established, if that hasn't worked out." Josh smiled encouragingly.

“Aaaand we’re useless.” Maya sighed, with a pouting Riley.

“No… no you’re not…” Josh said, an idea hitting him like a smack in the face. “Maya in your emergency bag there’s paper and pencils, right?” he may be guessing, but it was an educated one.

“Yeah, how’d you-”

“Do you think you could start making maps after the paper dries?” Maya’s eyes widened and she beamed, nodding vigorously.

“I might borrow some of that paper, to record the events of everything that’s happened.” Cory agreed.

“Okay so only _I’m_ useless.” Riley sighed, feeling dejected.

“We just need you to be _you_ sweetie.” Cory comforted. “We need you to keep smiling, I think you’d be the _most_ helpful if you could do that for us all.” Cory smiled softly, along with the others.

“Yeah… I think I can manage that.” Riley smiled wide, earning smiles from the others.

“We don’t have to be useful cause we’re only this many.” Auggie declared happily to Ava, fingers stretched out; the girl simply nodded and clung to him, she was still shaken up. Auggie couldn’t blame her, because he was just trying to hide it and be strong. They all just wanted to go home.


	4. Getting Into The Groove

Everyone was decked in cargo pants, boots, tank tops, andjackets tied around their waists. All the guys had an extra bag from the ship along with their bag pack, aside from Lucas who carried the two heaviest bags, and Auggie, who was too little to lift. Sticking tight as a group with Cory and Josh in front, Shawn and Farkle on the sides and Lucas bringing up the rear, they traveled in a tight diamond formation, the girls’ eyes glued to the surroundings. Lucas had tied himself and Riley back together with surprisingly few protests from her father, as had Josh with Maya. Farkle and Smackle had connected to the rest of the group.

When they all finally reached a suitable clearing. Shawn, Josh and Lucas fanned out, moving the ground around to ensure no nasty surprises lay in wait. “All clear.” Shawn nodded. The group then began working on setting up the tents at Josh and Cory’s instruction.

Josh, who had been gathering sticks on their way over, dumped them in the middle, adding stones at the bottom before lighting it up with a match. They all ate, collectively, 3 cans of food and the rest of their jerky, due to rationing. Shawn wrapped a rope around the trees surrounding them, tying the empty cans of food that had been washed thoroughly in sea water, to them. “Man I love the movies.” He smirked, causing Cory to thumbs up and Topanga to roll her eyes.

“Safety reasons, Adults on the outside, kids on the inside. We have 4 tents and thank God we trust you guys, because that means we can split you properly.” The Matthews got the biggest tent, taking in both little ones, the others getting equally sized ones, just large enough to fit 3 people. Lucas stayed with Farkle and Smackle while Josh stayed with the girls, much to Maya’s delight. They all held hands with eyes wide open, ears piqued to every sound made around them.

No one could sleep that night.

~*~

“Okay guys, I know you’re all exhausted, I am too, but we have a lot to do.” Cory began. “We need to split into two teams, 1 to explore the surroundings, and 1 to start building our camp in the skies.”

“Lucas, Topanga, Maya and I will explore, Lucas and Topanga will know the dangerous animals and plants, Maya can get started on the map, and I can help protect them in an emergency.” Shawn stated.

“Yeah, that gives me and Cory time to start with plans for the trees, Mrs Hunter can take care of the kids, and Riles can start learning how to sew and tie ropes while Farkle and Smackle keep trying to fix the damn radio.” Katy giggled at being called ‘Mrs. Hunter’ and Maya ran a hand down Josh’s back soothingly, knowing the pressure and worry is getting to him. He gratefully squeezed her fingers. With that they broke off and did as instructed.

~*~

“Is it just me or is it seriously unnerving out here?” Lucas muttered, ears sharp, listening for movement or rushing water.

“I know what you mean, I’m waiting for something to jump at us.” Shawn muttered back, wiping his brow, slicing another branch.

“We need to make bigger weapons.” Maya piped in, cutting through more off the foliage with a kitchen knife.

“We’ve been walking for an hour and nothing useful. Unbelievable.” Topanga growled out, frustrated. At least there were coconut trees closer to the shore they could grab from.

“Guys. Guys stop.” Maya bit out, grabbing Lucas’ shirt back, before pointing to a cluster of small trees. Growing on the branches were giant green plants, similar to large lime.

“…It’s Guava!” Topanga gasped in delight. Cautiously the group advanced. Scanning the tree, Shawn started to approach, knife out in case any critters decided to surprise them. When it was safe, he called Maya over and she began picking as well. With one bag pack full, they left. Maya filled in the map, marking the spot, looking up to get the path of the sun, like Josh taught her.

It was smooth sailing from there, the fruit all seemed to be growing fairly close together. Soon enough they had another bag full of mango, black berries, and papaya. The banana tree was guarded by some very giant, very dangerous looking spiders that _no one_ would be mentioning to Riley or Ava.

~*~

Riley grinned happily, this whole sewing this was catching on fast, surprisingly enough. Trust her reliable mum to have a sewing kit in her emergency bag. The rope tying was easier to get the hang of, so now she could tie butterfly knots beautifully. ‘Yay.’

“Riley?” Said girl looked beside her, into the big brown eyes of her little brother.

“Yes Auggie?” she hummed, turning back to her needle training.

“Will we be here forever?” Auggie began, low lip starting to tremble as Ava sat down beside him, she hadn’t left his side or said a word since the storm.

“No way! Farkle and Smackle are going to fix that radio in no time and then we’re going to get rescued by our family, who are no doubt searching for us everywhere!” she chirped, giving them a big smile.

“Really?” he asked, comforted by the absolute belief in Riley’s eyes.

“Yeah! This is just a fun adventure. To be honest, it hasn’t really hit me yet, I still feel like I’m dreaming, and going to wake up any moment.” Riley shared, quirking her lips.

“I can’t _stop_ thinking about it.” Ava finally spoke. “I can’t forget the screaming, and being pulled left and right… and blacking out in the sea… I thought I was dead when I woke up.”

Katy cooed and held the sobbing girl tight, whispering soft nothings in her ear. “Oh honey, I’m so sorry you had to go through that... I’m sorry we all did… it was really scary huh?”

“Riley isn’t scared…” Auggie muttered, petulant.

“Actually, Auggie, Ava… I’m terrified. Seeing Maya fall into the sea, Josh running after her, Lucas pulling me away… I keep seeing it every time I close my eyes. My hands wouldn’t stop trembling an hour after Lucas left me… I couldn’t even sleep last night even though he was in a tent right next to us… you know what I mean, right guys?” Riley’s haunted look cleared up as she looked at the geniuses.

“When Farkle went into the boat to untie the supplies, I had to hug myself and sit on the ground, look straight ahead… he was a holler away and I felt like I couldn’t breathe, suffocated like I was just hours before.” Farkle put an arm around his girlfriend and held her tight.

“Walking away from her was hard, and I couldn’t stop shaking when she was out of sight… it took me 3 hours to untie 6 bags from rope bindings.” He said softly, burying his head in her, blessedly dry, hair.

Cory and Josh had stopped working, to listen. They all shared a moment of silence. Cory turned to his little brother. “How are you holding up?” he asked softly.

“Honestly?” Cory nodded his head. “I can’t stop thinking about her, I know the moment she gets back to camp I’m going to tie her to me again, and I know Lucas is going to do the same with Riley… You’re gonna cling to Topanga, and she’s not going to let go of Auggie for a good 5 minutes.” Josh chuckled humourlessly.

“Dealing with something that brings the very real idea of death in your life has a heavy impact on everyone.” Cory spoke up, getting everyone’s attention. “Let it out, let your voice be heard, share your experience, cause if you don’t it’ll haunt you harder, and possibly have more impactful consequences in the future. The most notable thing, I guess, is whoever you went through it with, will be your only source of comfort when it takes over.”

~*~

3 hours later, the groups were whole once again, and sure enough, what was predicted did in fact happen. Now, Maya gave the first map to Cory and stood beside Josh, sketching out workable treehouse designs. Ava, Auggie and Riley sat with Topanga and Katy, who was teaching them about the colour and size of the fruits that had been gathered, teaching them to spot the same features before picking. Lucas was ensuring the campsite was secure, and Cory and Shawn were talking about the water situation, they could only get refills from the ship for another week.

“Okay guys listen up again.” Cory called attention. Everyone swivelled their heads his way before he continued. “We _have_ to find a source of fresh water. Seeing as we have seen creatures around the island, squirrels, sloths, anteaters… there is a water supply somewhere.”

“Basically he’s saying that a group needs to travel deeper into the forest, and that watering hole will be our real camping spot.” Shawn continued.

“Yeah, and Topanga has explained to me that we are somewhere in south America, it makes sense ocean wise, as in from where we were, to the plants surrounding us, and climate.” He said, chucking on his teacher-voice.

“South America!?” Riley’s jaw dropped. “Ay yai yai”

“Uhh… I don’t want to be the bearer of bad news but… if we are in a deserted South American island... then there is a high possibility of bears, foxes, jaguars and/or pumas… oh and wolves.” Farkle fainted and everyone elses’ faces contorted in fear.

“So at least… one of those… very scary creatures are with us… here… right now…” Riley was basically frozen, too scared to even tremble. She broke out of it and turned to Smackle. “We _need_ to get in contact with someone as _soon as possible_ … or we might die…”

The rest of the day was not as productive, or positive. Everyone’s minds were faraway, but their senses were trained on every sound, rustle of bush, or accidental brush. So when it was night time, once again, everyone was on edge, unable to catch a break.


	5. The Watering Hole

This time Maya, Josh, Shawn, Lucas and Riley were on the expedition for water. They stopped first at the fruit trees, picking some for the trip ahead before starting the treck. Lucas brought up the rear as before, holding fast to Riley’s hand, Shawn leading, Josh and Maya on the sides, all knives out, even Riley had a simple kitchen knife on hand.

“I hope we find a waterfall, so it’s big enough to actually wash with.” Riley murmured. “We all stink.” Lucas smiled at the endearing brunette, and the others all cracked a smile, letting some of the tension roll from their shoulders.

“Yeah, no kidding.” Josh teased, making Riley pout.

“You’re a guy, by rule you smell worse, so there.” Riley bit back, before wincing and looking up at a both brows raised Lucas. “Just smile and everything is over looked.” She said, wince turning into a cheeky grin.

Maya cackled, causing Shawn and Josh to smile gently at the blonde. “Hey Maya, you have enough of water?” Shawn asked, concerned.

“Yeah, thanks… dad…” they smiled again, along with Maya. “I think I’ve got enough still.”

“Good, good.” Shawn smiled awkwardly, still getting used to the whole fatherhood thing. “Hope nobodies’ tired, we have been walking for a couple hours-”

“SHH!!” Lucas suddenly hissed, causing everyone to fall silent. Ears perked, they all held their breath and listened. That’s when they heard it- “Running water!” Lucas grinned happily, walking steadily towards the sound. Everyone followed suit, brushing aside branches and thicket, to get to the promised land.

“Woah…” they whispered. Sure enough, there was a waterfall, it wasn’t small or particularly large. Just enough to get water to wash with but also drink. It was beautiful really, multi-coloured fauna decorated the river, embedded into ranged green foliage. The sun peeked out enough through the branches to make it sparkle in patches.

Maya sighed in satisfaction, sitting on a rock as the other gathered water into the empty water tanks. She finished off the map before starting to sketch the waterfall. Just as she was putting the final touches on the sprouting flowers, Shawn called her over.

Lucas tensed as he felt they were being watched, by not just anything… but by a predator. He let everyone know to keep their guard up, putting everyone on the defensive. He gently shoved Riley into the middle next to Maya, holding a defensive position. Slowly they hauled the water tanks and backed out the way they came, staying tense till they got back to camp.

~*~

“When we camp closer to that location, all of you girls can go have a shower. You need to take Lucas and Josh with you.” Topanga told Riley and Maya, making them grin wide and nod their heads vigorously. “This is a proper bath, ladies, the boys will not join you in swimwear or what not, you get the buckets, scrub down, get out. Am I understood?” they nodded their heads vigorously before leaving.

“You tell their _boyfriends_ to watch over them bathing!?” Cory freaked out.

“I know those boys. One is your brother. So yes, I trust them. Josh would never let Lucas do something like that to his niece, not that Lucas would do something so ungentlemanly to begin with. Your parents raised Josh better than that, so I know he won’t give trouble either. Plus, no guy wants the other guys see his girlfriend naked.” Topanga muttered the last part to herself. “Point is, they are the safest to be with, and I want our girls safe.”

“Yeah but does it have to be _him_!?” Corey seethed.

“You rather it be Farkle?” Topanga muttered, amused.

“NO.” Corey snapped, understanding he was fighting a losing battle. “Fine, I understand, you’re right, baby.”

“Of course I am.” Topanga chirped, pecking Cory’s cheek before leaving the tent, leaving him to flop face first onto his sleeping bag.

~*~

“Wait… your dad agreed to this?” Lucas chuckled incredulously, looking nervously at Josh.

“I know; this seems too farfetched.” Josh muttered, crossing his arms and stared hard at Maya and Riley, but especially Maya.

“Hey Uncle Boing, go ask your dear sister in law, and _then_ see if we’re lying.” Maya couldn’t stop grinning the entire time, fingers laced behind her back, swaying on her heels. Riley still hadn’t managed to quite look Lucas in the eye.

“Hey… Riley, if this makes you uncomfortable-” Lucas began, but was cut off by her voice as she thrust her head up, looking him right in the eye, light flush blooming on her cheeks.

“It doesn’t.” She whispered, eyes flickering between both of his. “I don’t feel uncomfortable.” she stated louder, firmer. Lucas scrunched his forehead in confusion at the seriousness in her eyes, until it finally hit him. He felt his jaw drop a little, as his own cheeks warmed at the implication in her words.

“Oh…” he muttered, looking away in disbelief before locking eyes with her once more.

“Yeah… oh…” Riley murmured, before ducking her head once more. Lucas rubbed the back of his neck as Maya watched them in slight confusion, and Josh watched with wide eyes.

“Hey guys, what’s going on?” Farkle surprised everyone by popping up.

“Woah Farkle!” Maya gasped, holding a hand to her chest. “Warn a girl.” She then pursed her lips. “Shouldn’t you and your female copy be working on getting in touch with the modern world, and getting us out of here?” She quirked a brow.

Farkle pouted. “It’s difficult with the soaked materials, we’re getting nowhere, even with the tools Josh got us.” He sighed, rubbing his forehead in annoyance. Concern drew everyone’s faces. Lucas, however, couldn’t get over the bombshell Riley just dropped. He was sure she was just confused right now, they were in a dangerous situation, and it brings different sides of people out. With himself assured, he decided to take this more forward Riley with a pinch of salt.

“Guys… what if we can’t fix this?” Farkle finally mentioned what was bugging him. The concern on everyone’s faces got more evident.

“You and Smackle are the smartest people I know. You’ll get this, just don’t give up.” Riley encourage with a gentle smile, wrapping her arms around the crestfallen teen.

“Yeah man, you got this.” Lucas smiled, clapping his back lightly.

Farkle smiled back before wrapping his arms around Riley’s waist. “Thanks guys.” There were smiles all around, as the two friends had a moment. Lucas felt a small twinge in his chest, but pushed it aside, feeling weirded out by himself.


	6. Watch Over Me

“We’re starting a watch system.” Shawn declared suddenly. The kids looked around in confusion, wondering what he was talking about. “It’s a rotation. I will be switching my sleeping schedule to be awake during the night and asleep during the day, since I often have insomnia and am used to the erratic hours. I need someone who believes they can do the same, with some evidence to back it up.” He looked around the camp for someone else to speak up.

Maya put her hand up but Josh shook his head gently. “No Maya, it would mean you and Riley rarely spending time together. Riley and you need each other, you keep each other sane, and Riley keeps the rest of us sane.” Cory spoke up, speaking gently, trying not to offend either girl. Biting her lip, Maya put her hand down. There goes father-daughter bonding time.

“I’ll do it.” Lucas suddenly spoke up, causing the others to turn to him instead. Before anyone else could speak up or question him he continued, unwavering. “I used to work on a farm in texas, I’m used to the early hours, or late nights you could say. I can do this, let me do this.” He was sure, he needed to be sure. He could do this.

Riley trembled at the thought of losing Lucas, but shook it off, he needed her to stand with him on this. “Lucas can do it. Give him a chance.” Riley stood up next to him. He smiled softly and laced their fingers together, looking down at her in awe.

“Okay… done. Pleasure working with you.” Shawn smiled, shaking the cowboy’s hand. Together Riley and Lucas took their seats, Riley leaning against Lucas, him wrapping an arm around her, understanding. Maya eyed the pair with concern before sharing a look with Josh and Topanga, who looked equally as confused and worried.

“Alright. We’ll start as soon as we shift camp tomorrow. We can lift all the heavy bags upstream, so we are the most tired out, maybe then we’ll be able to get some shut eye during the day hours.” Shawn muttered. “We can hunt in the early hours, when nature kick starts, we can take turns with it.” Lucas nodded in agreement.

“Cory and I can teach the others how to fish as well.” Josh said, looking at his brother, who was looking contemplatively at his daughter and her boyfriend. “Right bro?”

“What?” Cory looked up to his brother, seeing the quirked brow. “Oh, yeah. Easy.” He wasn’t too sure what he just agreed to, but he was sure it was nothing too concerning, at least he hoped so anyway.

~*~

The adults were all having a meeting, with the little ones asleep in the tent beside them, leaving the gang alone. Not even Josh was there with the friends, it was like the night at the campfire, except now, next to Farkle, sat a wide eyed Smackle. So, Riley decided to ask the question that had been bugging her from the moment that it arose.

“Why’d you do it Lucas? Why did you want to help Uncle Shawn?” Lucas opened his mouth, but shut it again, frozen by the innocence still alive in Riley’s beautiful brown eyes.

“I know you’ve been having trouble sleeping… I felt that if I did this… then you’d be able to sleep sounder at night.” He finally spoke, taking a gentle grip on her hand. “And since Shawn and I are the only ones who know how to hunt game… I just figured it was my place. Something I can do to truly help us all survive.” He shared, gazing deep into the brown pools that made speaking his heart so effortlessly.

“Damn Ranger Rick, here I was thinking you couldn’t be any more of a ‘Lucas the good’ and BAM, completely wrong.” Maya chuckled, feeling the need to lighten up the moment.

“Yeah. As soon as I think they couldn’t get any sappier, he does something like this.” Farkle chuckled, earning a fist bump from Maya and giggle from Smackle.

“Yeah, alright, just as long as you guys can feel safe enough to sleep at night. I know y’all are still having trouble closing your eyes after everything that's happened. Heck even I still get too caught up.” Lucas sighed, running a hand through his hair. The exhaustion was clearly evident in the kids’ faces, but it was even starting to show on the adults. Riley had never seen her mum so unlike her shark persona in her entire life.

The camp got silent again, having a moment to get grips on their fears and use the comfort of the people around to make them feel secure. After a few minutes, Farkle broke the silence. “Are we always going to be scared like this?”

Maya grimaced slightly. “We’re in an unknown place, our families don’t know where we are, stuck in a dangerous forest with nothing but pocket knives to protect ourselves, exhausted cause we can’t sleep after almost dying at sea and of course, the knowledge that there is a high chance vicious animals could easily come and kill us in our sleep-”

“And bugs.” Riley piped in, interrupting Maya’s tirade.

“-yes honey, and bugs-” She petted her arm comfortingly. “-so yes, I can say, even if we get as settled in as possible, we will always live in fear.” Maya muttered darkly.

“What’s worse is we have no one with medical experience passed first aid, what if we break something, or get fatally ill?” Smackle panicked.

“Guys, guys, listen.” Riley put her arms out, trying to get everyone to calm their anxiety. “We got much luckier than we’re giving credit for.” Everyone opened their mouths and argued at once, causing Riley to shush them frantically. “Just _listen_. We all washed up, together on the same Island-”

“Science proves due to our life jackets and the trajectory of the storm, it was not luck at all.” Farkle rebutted.

“Okay fine, we’re also lucky that the boat didn’t sink with the giant holes inside it, and rather washed on shore with us-” Riley pouted when she was cut off again.

“Same theory.” Smackle pointed out.

“Yeah, but nothing was missing that we really needed.” Riley fought back.

“Yeah, cause Josh told us to ensure everything was secured properly.” Maya pointed out, not liking arguing with Riley, but needing her to face reality, and reality dictates that there is no bright side here. Sometimes bad things just happen to good people.

“Well I’m just happy that we’re all here, safe aside from a few cuts and bruises that mum took care of as soon as we made camp, not bitten or attacked by anything. I’m just happy we’re all here together, with fruit to keep us alive, and a source of drinkable water. I’m grateful.” Riley finished, managing to make the others’ tension ease just a bit, and smiled when Lucas squeezed her hand. Riley turned to him and gave him a grateful look in thanks for not fighting her words.

The older teen searched every inch of her face, trying to ingrain every feature in his memory, bringing their entwined fingers up to his face, but not taking his eyes off of her. “And _that’s_ why we need you Riles, none of us could stay positive but you did. You managed to find the brighter side. Thank _you_.” Lucas kissed her fingers, laced between his own.

She smiled warmly at him, feeling just a smidgen luckier in that moment, and a whole lot better about her own uneasiness. “Any time.”


	7. Setting Things In Motion

“Okay let’s summarise our situation.” Cory began; he, Topanga, Shawn and Katy crowded the Mathews' large tent. Topanga dragged her eyes from Auggie and Ava sleeping restlessly next to them and eyed her husband’s haggard form. She wondered if she looked that bad, and after looking at an equally weary and practically sickly looking Katy, figured that yes, she probably looked like shit.

“Whatcha got Cor?” Shawn sighed, tightening his grip on Katy’s shoulder, both to soothe his wife and to keep himself anchored.

“Looks like Farkle and Smackle, try as they might, are still unable to get passed the amount of damage done to the equipment. Without the right parts, it’s a high possibility they won’t be able to fix the radio.” Cory grimaced, earning a groan from his best friend. “Worst case scenario, people still don’t know we’re stranded and we have 5 days left till vacation’s over and they notice we’re missing.”

“That gives a week’s worth of paper work and statements to be made to the press, to find us. Stuart may be able to cut it shorter. However, all they have to go on is that we’re lost somewhere on the Pacific Ocean… it could take months to find us after searching every island… they don’t know we’re closer to South America, for all they know, they could be checking islands around New Zealand, as far as Australia.” Topanga murmured in horror. She and Cory shared a look of distress.

“At least we know Minkus isn’t going to give up on us, we’re his friends and his son is here. Plus, he has the means to gather a proper search party.” Cory comforted his wife, trying to look on a more positive angle.

“Are you kidding, we’re going to die out here.” Shawn whined in dismay, earning a kick to the gut from Cory and slap over the head from Topanga.

“Ow, ow, okay jeez I’m sorry for being realistic-Hey! Stop that!” he kicked Cory back and got closer to his wife. “Bunch of crazy people.” He muttered sullenly, pouting, much to his the others' amusement.

“What we need to do now is survive long enough for them to get to us, by either fixing that radio or somehow figuring out another way to make contact.” And that ended that very informative and uplifting meeting. Good work team.

~*~

The next day was nothing but hot and tiring as everyone made the 3 hour trek to the stream. The group stayed the same as it had getting into the forest, but this time Maya helping lead, map in hand. When the group arrived at the waterfall, they were both relieved that the map could be followed and that they could all finally rest. Maya climbed back on the rocky boulder, sitting down and just taking in the hopeful faces on everyone around her, perking up when she saw Josh come striding up to her. “Why hello there handsome and mysterious stranger.” She giggled flirtatiously as he cracked a small smirk in response.

“Why hello pretty lady… just wanting to come and thank you for being as brilliant as you are beautiful.” He flirted back, leaning an elbow against the boulder, which reached just under shoulder height for him.

“Why thank you, hot stuff.” Her eyes twinkled, making his smile gentler. Maya felt her breath hitch as the sun hit his olive skin just so. He was even more gorgeous right now, or maybe that’s just her exhaustion talking... And the nut job that pops out whenever he’s near her.

“Seriously Maya, without you able to guide us, we could have been lost in that forest.” He needed to make sure she was properly congratulating herself for this, because without her, they might have died of starvation and dehydration out here.

“And thank you, for being so damn paranoid and well packed.” Maya’s eyes twinkled with mirth once more, but he could read the genuine gratefulness she felt, much like the others. Without the tools or the tents, or the instruction, they would have all died at sea.

~*~

Riley washed her face with a small prayer of thanks, mother right beside her. Lucas and Cory watched them from a small distance, both with looks of adoration in their eyes. That is until Katy, Farkle, and Smackle joined them.

“LAST ONE IN’S A ROTTEN EGG-” Auggie squealed, going full pelt towards the water, with a giggling Ava following him close by.

“NO!” Topanga gasped, grabbing Auggie. A baffled Lucas raced instantly to Ava, grabbing her just as she stepped in the water, before backing up quickly, looking to Topanga with confusion.

“No one steps in the water. We don’t know what lives down there, and we certainly aren’t checking without quick access to a hospital.” Topanga bit out, ensuring everyone heard her. Josh nodded in agreement. The survivors were now officially on edge once more.

“Also no drinking the water, we need to boil it. To bathe we’ll make bowls out of the coconuts. We’ll figure out a more useful method once we set camp. Break’s over.” Cory called out, kicking everyone back in gear.

~*~

Now that they had all found the waterfall using the map, they back tracked towards the fruit trees, before finding a workable spot 20 minutes away from the waterfall. “Can you see it?” Josh muttered in Maya’s ear.

“Yeah, I can see it.” Maya grinned. While everyone got started on setting up camp, Maya sat beneath a tree out of the way, sketching careful plans of treehouse placements. Josh sat next to her and added instructions, almost like a manual. They had just enough nails to achievabley make 2 meter by 2 meter huts.

“We need wood, I have a small saw that we can work with and a measuring tape that goes to 1 ½ metres. These spaces are enough just, for two people. With the little ones sleeping with Cory and Topanga, we may be able to make theirs’ fractionally bigger.” Josh sussed out, thinking hard.

“How are we going to get proper, wood?” Maya rose a brow.

“That’s easy enough, we just need to melt the shrapnel from the ship into a long enough saw. If we could use rope and cloth to make some kind of handle, we’ll be covered. All we need to do now is find a big enough container to hold the melted metal, and a stone large enough to chip the design into… as well as a way to pick up and finesse the unshapened saw.” Josh explained.

Maya nodded, not really understanding what he meant by ‘finesse’ but so long as _he_ knew what he was doing then she was good. “You know, this sounds like it's going to be a really big procedure, it’s going to take a lot of time, you think we’ll be fine down here?” Josh pursed his lips, thinking on it.

“Honestly? We can only hope…” Josh muttered seriously. “We have to be; any other option would be too dangerous.” Maya bit her lip but nodded in understanding.

~*~

First order of business, however, was bath time. Josh and Lucas walked with the girls back to the waterfall. They split up then, Lucas taking one side of the waterfall, with Josh taking the other, so the girls were boxed in. Maya, Riley, Smackle and Ava were nervous to get out of their clothes. But, Riley finally realised they were all being ridiculous and just turned her back on the boys and began shedding her clothes. She wanted to be clean dammnit, and she trusted them.

“Damn, alright, wherever she goes I go,” and with that Maya joined her. When Riley started to wash, Smackle and Ava calmed down enough to start as well. Ava stuck to Maya as Riley washed out her hair. Of course, not able to completely ease her own discomfort, Riley’s eyes trailed back to her boyfriend, who was, obviously, turned, giving her only a solid back to look at. Biting her lip, she smiled, beginning to hum, calming the others and grinning at her best friend when Maya joined her with silly vocals.

Lucas was nervous as hell, feeling the pressure weigh him down, but that all eased when he heard Riley’s soft voice floating from the waterfall. Josh was in the same boat, but since he was more experienced, with his age, he believed he had more right to be nervous, fighting temptation while trying desperately not to violate Maya in any way. When he heard her singing nonsensical notes, he could help chuckling, a big grin stretching his lips.

Riley finished washing the fastest, and then began washing everyone’s clothes, hoping they would dry as quick as their hair in the humidity. And sure enough, an hour later, they had. Silently, cautiously, the group headed back to camp, girls clean and with lightly damp clothes. It was the male’s turns next. The adults stayed at camp, they could wash together in turns, so Josh, Lucas, Farkle and Auggie headed to clean up.

~*~

“You didn’t look at my women did you freakface!? I got my eye on you.” Farkle glared, poking Lucas hard in the pectorals, with his pointer.

Lucas rolled his eyes and rubbed the offended spot on his chest. “I get enough beef from Maya about this, can you knock it off, please?” Farkle simply mimicked him and pouted.

“Ignore him, he’s just jealous, and annoyed that we were the ones chosen to take watch on the girls.” Josh chuckled, piggy-backing Auggie.

Once they were clean, the guys took up the fishing poles they had brought with them; Cory and Josh made them with sticks and rope, and hooks from some of the hangers left on the ship. They decided to try their hands while their clothes were drying.

~*~

“Is that fish!?” Cory gasped, grabbing the tied up school from Lucas’ arms.

“Yeah, we got lucky, plenty of fish down there.” Lucas smiled happily, unable to help the way he puffed up his chest when Riley gawked over at him.

“I didn’t catch any!” Auggie pouted unhappily.

“Me either!” both Farkle and Auggie crossed their arms, pouting. Lucas and Josh just grinned and fist-bumped each other.

“Looks like I’m cooking a feast tonight.” Topanga beamed. “Riley honey, Josh will bring you to the waterfall after the adults wash up, can you help me prepare the food?”

“Of course, mum.” Riley smiled, nodding. Lucas passed her, with a soft kiss, before heading to his tent to reset his body clock. An hour later, Shawn joined him.

After doing the patch-work her mum requested for sewing training, Josh grabbed an idle Riley to take her to the creek, Maya going with him for back-up. “Let’s begin.” The three stood guard as Topanga taught Riley to clean and skin the fish. The extra guards were in case animals took interest in the smell of an easy meal.

Riley frowned as she smelled herself on the trip back to the camp. “I just washed, and now I stink again.” She sighed, annoyed at herself. She was happy, however, to see Lucas up and about. Apparently he, Josh and Shawn were on their way to get supplies from the boat, trying to find a short cut to the beach. And find it they did, adding rough sketches to Maya’s map to ensure they didn’t get lost, by marking the trees.

When they arrived at the wreckage, the team immediately got to work. Gathering the requested ice buckets full of shrapnel and taking a large piece of the broken granite counter top, they laid the items on a giant, curved part off the side of the boat. They attached ropes to the make-shift slide and dragged the large package through the forest, back to camp. Understandably, it took a few hours out of their lives. When they got back to camp, it was something like 10 pm. Sure enough, the little ones were asleep, along with Farkle and Smackle. Cory, Topanga and Katy were extremely relieved to see them back safe, helping them unpack the pile on top of the piece of metal. Riley and Maya sat at the campfire, talking, with Riley nursing the catch. The brunette teen grinned when she caught sight of a stretching Lucas, grabbing the last six sticks of fish off the fire. Lucas, Josh and Shawn devoured the meat gratefully, throwing them back into the fire when finished. Riley engulfed Lucas in a tight embrace, catching the country boy off guard. They shared a sweet kiss, with Maya also wishing her dad and Josh goodnight, before retiring to their tent. After a small debriefing, Cory and Topanga headed to bed as well, they would need plenty of rest for the coming morning.


	8. The Start Of A Bromance

“So tell me about what you’ve learned to hunt.” Shawn muttered, ensuring there be a flow of conversation to keep both parties awake till their bodies got used to it.

“Well, before my Pappy Joe allowed me to use a shot gun, I had to be able to hunt whatever I would shoot. I built traps for deer, rabbits, birds, boar…” Lucas started, reliving the memories. “The deer was a hard one, big animal and all. It was the hardest task of my life. I gained its trust before killing it.” His look was haunted, unable to forget those innocent, trusting eyes. “I get reminded of it sometimes when I look into Riley’s eyes… makes me want to be a better person…to not lose that trust ever again.”

Shawn listened quietly as the young teen spoke. “I kind of hand a similar experience. My family wasn’t well off… so I had to get what I could. I would slingshot birds to bring home, and in a rare chance, my dad would take me out to the wild and taught me to use a gun… I remember seeing this beautiful young buck… It looked me straight in the eyes… and I shot it. I didn’t even mean to, I just had my finger on the trigger… dad was so proud…” Shawn trailed off, small frown twisting his lips. “Anyway, you’ll have to teach me how to catch em without a gun.”

Lucas just smiled and nodded. “The easiest way would be to grab one of the pails and set it up in a standard trap. We can also dig a hole, create a pot hole trap… and of course, a net. We should probably surround the camp with a net trap to be on the safer side. We can tell Cory to get Josh to build one when we sleep, I’m sure he learned about it.” Shawn nodded in agreement. The rest of the night they had easy conversation, mostly planning making traps and weapons, but also about their lives and their loves.

~*~

Riley woke up to the sounds of soft chatter outside her tent. Honestly, there was no chance she would have woken up without her school set body alarm. She gently untangled herself from Josh’s embrace, watching with a big, sleepy grin as he curled that arm around Maya, who was wrapped around him like a second blanket. She quietly unzipped the tent and crept out, washing her face with the water in the pail outside. Soon enough she spotted Lucas sitting by the dying embers of the fire. Grinning to herself, Riley crept towards him, before quickly wrapping her arms around his shoulders. She pouted softly when he didn’t so much as flinch.

“Morning Riles.” Riley grinned wide as she was drawn into his strong arms.

“I’ll only talk behind your head because morning breath is tragic, let me brush my teeth and I’ll be back.” And with that she disappeared out of his arms. Not giving Lucas much time to miss her, Riley was beside him on the log, in minutes. “How was your night?”

Lucas loved how attentive she was, he loved how she honestly cared about what he thinks, and how he was, and that she enjoyed hearing not only his voice, but everything he had to say. “It was easier than I thought… Shawn was easy to talk to… it wasn’t dull…” She smiled gently as he gave her summaries of the night’s events. Half way into it, Topanga came out of her tent.

“Riley, can you help me prepare breakfast?” With regretful smiles, the two enamored teens parted ways. Riley peeled some of the vegetation Topanga found in the forest when out with Cory and Shawn while Topanga added a few slices of dried fruit and they split bowls of fruit and veg in the coconuts.

Riley gave Lucas his breakfast, with a small smile shared between the two, before giving Cory and Shawn theirs, eating her own back at the logs with Lucas. Topanga and Corey watched their little girl speak with the boy she loved, while eating breakfast, enjoying the piece of normalcy. Soon everyone was up and about and eating breakfast. That was Lucas and Shawn’s note to get to bed. With the new night owls, it was decided, much to Maya’s dismay, new sleeping groups. Katy, Maya and Ava now shared a tent, Cory and Topanga shared, with Riley, Auggie and Josh in another, and Farkle and Smackle in one more, apparently they were the only couple trusted to be together.

In the plans it was settled that Cory and Topanga would be taking the first hut. Katy, Auggie and Ava beside them. Farkle and Josh in another one, Maya, Riley and Smackle in the fourth one. Lucas and Shawn had their own as well. But with that settled, and breakfast consumed, Josh simply thanked the potted plants that survived in the locked rooms, undamaged.

Popping the empty clay pot over the fire, Josh chucked in pieces of shrapnel, closing the pot with another pot as a lid. Josh then took the pick and hammer to the granite slab, carving away. Maya just watched him the entire time, fascinated with what was happening. Every now and then Josh left the granite to tend to the pot, taking out bits and pieces before adding more. It took 8 hours, but he had finally finished the mould, and the metal had finally melted.

By this time, Shawn and Lucas were up and able to help him. Grabbing the heated clay pot with layers of clothing casing his hands, he quickly poured the metal in the mould, quickly setting down the pot when he was done. Shawn and Lucas levelled the metal as quickly as possible and when Shawn sussed out the firmness of the quickly hardening metal, hammering it into shape, after which Lucas poured 2 buckets of water along the entire expanse. After lifting the metal out of the granite mould, using stones to grind the blade end into a sharp point. An exhausted Josh ate dinner, ravenous and grateful. Maya was just glad she followed along enough to help him in the future.

While Josh was working on the metal, Riley, Katy and Topanga started repairing the ruined clothes, enough to wear as changes for everyone, Especially underwear. Farkle and Smackle finally gave up on Farkle’s dead phone, but were unwilling to pull it apart to look for parts, in case they figured out a way to make it work once more, instead going with Cory to search the ship’s own control board. Auggie and Ava just hung out together, practicing how to tie knots and braid rope.

Shawn grabbed the braided rope from the kids, and added it to the rest of their nets. He and Lucas began setting up random net traps around the campsite. Hopefully whatever was caught, if it could chew, took enough time for them to get to it. They tied the empty cans to the nets, as an alarm system. Due to the fact they ran out of rope, both men sincerely hoped they wouldn’t be needing any in future. Shawn instructed the safety of manoeuvring around the nets for when leaving campsite, as Lucas carved signs in the relevant tree areas.

Josh listened intently before heading straight to bed. Maya crept in before the others to a back massage, eliciting a smirk from the worn boy scout. Josh let Maya have her fun, happy to just stay half-conscious on the floor, with just enough strength to kiss back when curious lips trailed a path up his spine to lips. Maya was content to just enjoy their time together, only heading out when Auggie's sleepy form entered the tent, tuckered out from the rope tying. Riley cleaned up the cans of soup they ate for dinner, before giving them to Lucas, who thanked her. Topanga and Cory headed to bed early as well, their bodies finally done with being so tired all the time. Riley stayed up a little longer, along with Katy and Maya, keeping their night knights entertained for a few more hours. After Maya and Katy headed to bed, Riley knew she had to as well, or else she wouldn’t be able to get up the next morning. So, with a heavy heart, and lips soft with a goodnight kiss, she headed to bed.

~*~

“How are you holding up with that, by the way?” Shawn questioned, struggling himself, being away from his new wife for so long every day.

“Honestly? It’s hard. I know you’ve got it worse, believe you me. But, she keeps me sane, you know? She keeps me grounded, in this extreme situation… I miss talking to her.” Lucas sighed, forlorn, as he eyed Riley’s tent.

“I know, I just want to go to Katy and wrap my arms around her… but I can’t, cause I know what’s important.” Lucas frowned, but found himself agreeing. “Look on the bright side, when everyone is less exhausted, when we all get used to our schedules and workloads, then our patterns will be set.” Shawn pointed out. “Like, assuming times; they’d sleep from 10 to 7, and we would sleep from 8 to 5. That gives 5 hours a day to spend with them, realistically…” Shawn said, optimistically. Lucas nodded in understanding, feeling slightly better about the situation.

“Thanks Mr. Hunter, I needed that.” Lucas smiled.

“Hey now, call me Shawn-” before Lucas could protest, Shawn shook his head. “No… right here, right now, we're men on an even playing field, who deserve mutual respect.” The two men shared a smile and an understanding: they were protectors and providers, no more, no less; they would keep their family safe.


	9. Setting Down Roots

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I'm back guys~! Sorry just needed to sort some things out :/ I want you guys to know I am officially publishing this on fanfiction as well and that updates will go back to the usual once a fortnight ish :)

So, the following weeks were extremely busy. Trees close to the campsite were cut down, making a clearing around the group they dubbed ‘no man’s land.’ Shawn and Lucas worked tirelessly in the nights setting up traps and simple instructions in order not to have anyone fall into one. As the logs piled up, Josh and Maya worked on carving them into wooden panels. Cory used a few of the panels to create a ladder. From there the trio worked in the trees, clearing away the leaves and filling in any holes leading into the trunks. Riley would ensure a steady access to cooled, boiled water and cloth, so that no heatstroke hit.

In the nights Shawn and Lucas set out to grab their game, hunt, and bring back to the group. After arriving back, they would drop the catch in leaf woven baskets the kids made, and carve out more wood panels with the axe. When Topanga awoke, early as always, they would leave the game with her and head to the river to wash up and go to sleep.

The survivors worked tirelessly in the next month. Until, they finally had all the panels they needed. Rain did little to slow down the group, simply shutting themselves in the waterproof tents, waiting out the storm. The rain did minimal damage to the panels, thankful for the thickness of the 3-metre-long wood. From 5 to 10 the men, Maya and Topanga, would work on getting the panels secured in the trees, Cory and Josh bolting panels down as soon as they wake. Finally, the leaf-less houses were finished and ready to inhabit. The doors into the houses were simply panels of wood that needed to be pull to open. What felt like forever later, they were all finally finished.

~*~

The friends and family all stood below the circle of trees and eyed the houses perched between trunks, with a sense of pride and accomplishment. Up the roped ladders were 5 identical wood huts, caked in clay Auggie managed to find in a section of camp ground, in order to fill the gaps. The houses were not only nailed to the trees, but also secured by vines and salvaged rope, and long wooden pillars… they wouldn’t budge.

“Way to go team.” Cory smiled brightly, holding his family close. “I couldn’t be prouder buddy.” He clapped a weary Josh on the back, beaming with pride and disbelief.

“I can’t believe we’re done.” Maya muttered the words Josh was thinking. He smiled and squeezed her hand gently. “Well what are we waiting for?” And with that Maya was climbing up the ropes joyfully, pulling open the door to her own house, Riley close on her heels, Lucas ensuring she was safe. All the houses were fitted with bridges, connecting to the other houses. Soon enough, everyone was up and getting settled in. The true test would be surviving a storm.

Everyone slept easier that night, squeezing their tents into their houses. The houses were two by two metres, enabling walking space around the tents. So getting up in the morning was a slightly easier affair. The kids, instructed by Katy, had managed to use one of the buckets and braided the vines, making a pass system to pull supplies and other such items around to other houses and down to the floor. Breakfast was an easier affair because of it.

~*~

After the treehouses were built, the pace had slowed, everyone taking back time, to relax and absorb the situation. In this month filled with fear, anxiety, desperation and dwindling hope, everyone started to change slightly. Cory was more serious, with slight bursts of playfulness here and there in order to keep morale going' Topanga had reverted back to her spiritual ways; Shawn had become more solemn and contemplative; Katy had become stronger, more dependable; Josh had become more controlling, focused on ensuring everything needed was there, only able to let loose when Maya came around, forcing him to stop with a massage or bit of flirty banter; Maya had become more playful, and less daring, but up for a challenge; Riley had calmed down drastically, acting more sage, but still as clumsy as ever, in which moments she became her usual awkward self; Lucas had become quieter, their conversations now filled with soft discussion and concerned touches, he was always worried about her safety, becoming more protective of Riley, to a point of over-protectiveness; Farkle had managed to keep himself intact for the most part, still spouting off random facts whenever opportunity arises, and ensuring to keep conversation flowing; Smackle had become chattier, constantly needing an outlet to spill her fears; Auggie and Ava had also become quieter, keeping more to themselves, only really talking to Katy, Topanga and Riley.

It was a new day and hope was quickly seeping out of the childrens’ hearts. After the huts were built, it was a real task of survival and the waiting game, a true test of patience. Farkle and Smackle were still stuck on finding a power source to test the radio with, which they believed they fixed, praying for lightning to just strike their machine. Riley was spending more time with Auggie and Ava, trying to cheer them up, and make them feel safer, letting them pour their fears into her. The only ones discussing their concerns was Maya and Josh, Josh telling Maya these things took more time than she could imagine, for many reasons, the size of the ocean being one of them. Maya relayed the adults’ input back to Riley, who managed to alay her fears slightly more than them, by saying it’s probably been months, so they must be close, adding the fact everyone was still unharmed. In actual fact, it had only been 1 ½ months, and the group was in deep trouble with a predator lurking, waiting out a singular prey.

~*~

“Riley!” Riley turned around with a big smile, drinking in the sight of her boyfriend, before sighing happily. Over the course of their time in the jungle, Lucas had become bulkier, towering over her without her having heels on. She had noticed a slightly more sombre air around the usually bright eyed boy, that concerned her, but her fears were always put to rest when his big, beautiful smile flashed her way whenever she grinned at him.

“Lucas.” She breathed out, enjoying the way he strode straight up to her and immediately wrapped her in his arms. Her face was cushioned by his taut chest, as she rested in his embrace. His over protective mode was now in full command, ensuring she was never far from his grasp every moment he wasn’t hunting, or when she was asleep. “How is everything?” she looked up to assess his face, taking in his expressions as he spoke.

“The traps are intact, one caught a fox close to our camp.” Lucas muttered, knitting his brows. It may be small, but it’s still a wild animal that eats whatever they please.

Riley gasped, eyes wide. “Really!? Are they dangerous? They looked so cute online…” Riley pouted, thinking of it hurt. She was brought out of her musings when firm fingers took hold of her chin.

“Riley, it is a dangerous wild animal, that would have attacked us… it could have hurt _you_.” Lucas told her seriously, his moss green eyes pleading for her to understand.

“Lucas… what did you do...?” Lucas watched with carefully hidden distress, pulling on a neutral face as Riley began to freak out. “You killed it! You killed the fox!?” She hissed, trying not to get the attention of any of the other survivors.

“I had to Riley, what if it came back? When you were washing clothes at the creak, what if it jumped at you? At Auggie?” Lucas grabbed hold of her wrists when she tried to push away. “I need you to support me in this Riley, I can’t lose you too.” He pleaded with her. “Don’t turn away from me.”

Riley bit her bottom lip, but stopped struggling. Tentatively, she peeked up through her lashes, taking in his beseeching gaze. Riley took a moment to think, Lucas, along with Farkle, Smackle and Ava, were away from their families, they were probably feeling more alone and vulnerable than anyone… she didn’t agree with what Lucas had done by any means… but it was survival of the fittest right now, she understood her feelings towards animals, no matter how cute they might be, should not be the thought process in such a dangerous place. So in just this matter, maybe Lucas _was_ justified.

“Okay, I’m sorry… you’re probably right I just-” Riley was cut off when a pair of chapped lips moved against her’s. Riley hummed softly at the firm press, fluttering her eyes closed as her legs buckled, trusting Lucas to completely support her weight. Lucas did so gladly, happy to have gotten passed this hurdle with Riley, much better than he thought he would. They stood there, just moving their lips against each other, until Lucas let his tongue slide against her bottom lip. Riley gasped and tensed, not used to the sensation, relaxing slowly as Lucas took the plump petal into his mouth, sucking it fervently. Riley officially had no chance of getting her footing back, simply clinging to him, trying to absorb the new feelings surging through her. After a few minutes Lucas finally pulled away, stomach clenching in satisfaction as he followed the trail of spit connecting their mouths, to Riley’s flushed face and murky brown pools. Her fingers were still clenching his shirt tightly, the teenager trying to get grips on her sanity. Lucas easily sunk to the floor, bringing her into his lap, so she was curled up and comfortable. He ran his fingers through the soft tresses of her ponytail, gazing down at her while she collected herself.

Riley’s heart still hammered in her chest, as she processed everything. Lucas had kissed her more frequently in the last few weeks, more firmly sure, but she simply thought that was just progress in their relationship, both of them getting comfortable with one another. But, something was changing, had been changing in him for a while. He was more intense now, with everything he did… she wasn’t sure what he felt… she just had this feeling he needed something from her… she debated the pros and cons of just straight out asking him. That was their thing, right? Talking?

“Lucas?” Riley looked to him as her arms curled around his shoulders. “Lucas, what do you need from me?” In foresight she probably should have expected the look of confusion blatant on his face.

“What do you mean Riley? Why do you think I need something from you?” Lucas asked, cupping her cheek in his calloused palm.

“I just get the feeling that you’re ‘ _screaming_ ’.” Riley quoted, thinking back to the whole ‘True Maya’ fiasco. At his deeper look of confusion, Riley realised that maybe Lucas didn’t even know he needed this something from her. “Maybe I was looking too far into things…” Riley muttered with a smile, waving the idea off, so as not to cause him worry.

“If it helps, Princess, I just need you.” He smiled gently, kissing her softly once again. Riley smiled into the kiss, gently pressing back. Everything was sweet, and calm once more, until they were rudely interrupted by a clearing throat.


End file.
